Harvey: Youthful Rockets need training wheels for camp

The 2012-13 Rockets had their first team dinner Sunday night. Coach Kevin McHale expected a lot of questions from his young players, which means virtually all of them.

So which question stood out?

“Where is the Valley, and why are we going there?’’ McHale said during Monday’s media day, which started, perhaps appropriately, at the House of Blues before moving over to the Comcast SportsNet studios.

He was speaking, of course, of the Rio Grande Valley, where the Rockets open training camp on Tuesday in McAllen.

McHale would have preferred a question about what it’s like to play against LeBron James.

Instead, he said he heard from his lambs about how they were looking forward to playing against LeBron.

“I keep telling them, ‘LeBron James is really good,’ ’’ McHale said. “It makes me laugh. In a way, you like it that they have confidence. In a way, you want to say, ‘You have no clue.’ ’’

Until the young Rockets actually have to play against LeBron, D-Wade, Dwight Howard, Kobe, Kevin Durant and others who no doubt will be at Toyota Center in February for the All-Star Game, McHale will need his few veterans to tutor them.

Those “veterans’’ include Jeremy Lin, 24, who has played two NBA seasons, which give him as much or more experience than 15 of the 20 players the Rockets are taking to McAllen. He can, however, tell them more than they want to know about the Miami Heat.

In his first 10 starts with the New York Knicks last season, Lin averaged more than 20 points and almost nine assists. In his 11th start, against the Heat, James and Wade took it upon themselves to turn Linsanity into Lineptitude, holding him to eight points on 1-of-11 shooting from the field. He also had eight turnovers.

Asked Monday how he would respond to teammates who talk about looking forward to playing against James, Lin said, “I’d tell them first off to never, ever say that.’’

This might not be a fun season for the Rockets.

They have too many young players, including five rookies who are expected to produce.

They have no established star to build around, unless it’s Lin.

When the Rockets spoke Monday about Big O, you hoped Oscar Robertson was going to walk through the door. But note that they didn’t say the Big O. They said Big O, as in Omer Asik.

No. 8 seed a viable goal

Competing in a loaded Western Conference, the Rockets look like a lottery team. At best, they look like a team battling for the final playoff berth.

But if media day was any indication, it should be a fun ride.

Lin wouldn’t criticize the Knicks. They gave him his shot. But then a couple of their veterans like Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire took shots at him, seemingly resentful of his success and the worldwide attention it brought him.

“I had a lot of fun last year,’’ Lin said when asked about whether this team might be more welcoming.

“But I know what you’re saying,’’ he said. “There’s definitely a different feel here. We’re all new. We’re all in it together. There’s uncertainty, but I really do think we’re talented.’’

McHale said he hopes players such as Kevin Martin, 29, and Shaun Livingston, 27, emerge as leaders, but he already sees Chandler Parsons, who will turn 24 this month, in that role. Parsons was a rookie last season.

“I’m looking at Chandler, which frightens the hell out of me,’’ McHale said. “He’s my veteran guy? Are you kidding me?’’

“I heard that,’’ Parsons said later, laughing. “I’m a little bit offended. I don’t know whether he meant that, but I’m going to take it like a compliment.’’

Fun and games

Parsons already stepped up once this summer, allowing Lin to sleep on his couch when he was homeless for two days while looking for an apartment. You wouldn’t want Lin, with his new three-year, $25 million contract, to have to stay in some bed-bug hotel.

When Lin moved into his new place, one of the first things he bought was a pingpong table. Parsons reported he skunked Lin on Sunday night.

“I beat him two games,’’ Lin said, protesting. “He just tells you the part he wants to tell you.’’

It was a good media day. Now comes the rest of the season. Maybe the Rockets can challenge LeBron in pingpong.